Neutral

Neutral is an online magazine we created for The Faculty of Arts at York St John University. Its aim is to showcase the creative talents of students studying BA Media & Film Studies.

In 2013 we created the first online-only edition of Neutral Magazine. Previous editions were beautifully designed printed pieces but didn’t translate well onto the web, where they could reach a wider audience.

We’ve built up a good relationship with the team at York St John and have just released the third online edition in time for Create15.

Our challenge was to make an online magazine look and work as beautifully as the printed versions.

By taking the magazine online, more people have access to the articles. They could also be easily shared on social media.

We are delighted with the result and our students are rightly proud of their achievements and grateful to have experienced cutting edge digital design practice first hand.

Keith McDonald, Head of Programme, Media and Film Studies – York St John University

Sharing the goods on any device

Our content marketing strategy called for share tools to be built into each article page. Because social media is so widely consumed on smartphones and tablets we took a mobile-first approach to designing the navigation and user experience.

Creative direction

The students took on the role of our client as we collaborated over the creative direction of each edition. This gave us the opportunity to create a distinctive visual theme for each one, whilst retaining the brand identity of the magazine.

Creating growth

With each edition we’ve improved the way content is presented, navigated and marketed. We built the system with the future in mind so we’re able re-use the framework. This allows us to focus on creativity and growing the audience.

We wanted to work with a team who could offer expertise and advice but also work with both staff and students collaboratively.

Stuart Page, Associate Dean – Development, York St John University

Neutral is one of our favourite jobs — it’s an opportunity to get back to our creative and experimental roots.